Postcard from Down Under: Rebels land in Sydney

Editor's note: UNLV basketball player Kendall Wallace will provide occasional postcards from the team's six-game "Down Under" tour of Australia. This is his first:

We departed Las Vegas at 6 p.m. Monday and landed in Los Angeles around 7:30. We waited in anticipation for our 14-hour flight to Sydney, Australia. When the time finally came at 10:30, we boarded a huge, two-story 747.

I happened to sit with an older couple who were from Perth, Australia, and had been visiting Las Vegas. They described our city as a chaotic place. They said the big adjustment for them in America was that people expect tips. In Australia, people don't tip, yet I still found myself tipping the taxi drivers and the waiters during our first day here.

When we arrived in Sydney at 6 a.m. Wednesday (1 p.m. Tuesday in Las Vegas), we got on a bus and were given a tour of the city. We went to Bondi Beach first and watched some surfing. Even though it is winter here, the temperature was in the low 60s. Then we were shown some of the other sights and we took pictures. The rest of the day we had free time and walked around downtown.

Tre'Von (Willis) and I were watching the Arizona Diamondbacks play the Boston Red Sox on ESPN's "Wednesday Night Baseball." The funny thing is that it was 9 a.m. Thursday here.

Later this morning (Wednesday in Las Vegas) we took a tour of the Sydney Opera House. It was interesting and an amazing performing arts complex.

-- KENDALL WALLACE